Self-reported health problems and obesity predict sickness absence during a 12-month follow-up : a prospective cohort study in 21 608 employees from different industries

Objectives To study whether self-reported health problems predict sickness absence (SA) from work in employees from different industries. Methods The results of a health risk appraisal (HRA) were combined with archival data of SA of 21 608 employees (59% female, 56% clerical). Exposure variables were self-reported health problems, labelled as ' work disability (WD) risk factors' in the HRA, presence of problems with occupational well-being and obesity. Age, socioeconomic grading and the number of SA days 12 months before the survey were treated as confounders. The outcome measure was accumulated SA days during 12-month follow-up. Data were analysed separately for males and females. A Hurdle model with negative binomial response was used to analyse zero-inflated count data of SA. Results The HRA results predicted the number of accumulated SA days during the 12-month follow-up, regardless of occupational group and gender. The ratio of means of SA days varied between 2.7 and 4.0 among those with ' WD risk factors' and the reference category with no findings, depending on gender and occupational group. The lower limit of the 95% CI was at the lowest 2.0. In the Hurdle model, ' WD risk factors', SA days prior to the HRA and obesity were additive predictors for SA and/or the accumulated SA days in all occupational groups. Conclusion Self-reported health problems and obesity predict a higher total count of SA days in an additive fashion. These findings have implications for both management and the healthcare system in the prevention of WD. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.Peer reviewe

Family-level sampling of mitochondrial genomes in coleoptera: compositional heterogeneity and phylogenetics

Mitochondrial genomes are readily sequenced with recent technology and thus evolutionary lineages can be sampled more densely. This permits better phylogenetic estimates and assessment of potential biases resulting from heterogeneity in nucleotide composition and rate of change. We gathered 245 mitochondrial sequences for the Coleoptera representing all 4 suborders, 15 superfamilies of Polyphaga, and altogether 97 families, including 159 newly sequenced full or partial mitogenomes. Compositional heterogeneity greatly affected 3rd codon positions, and to a lesser extent the 1st and 2nd positions, even after RY coding. Heterogeneity also affected the encoded protein sequence, in particular in the nad2, nad4, nad5 and nad6 genes. Credible tree topologies were obtained with the nhPhyML (‘non-homogeneous’) algorithm implementing a model for branch-specific equilibrium frequencies. Likelihood searches using RAxML were improved by data partitioning by gene and codon position. Finally, the PhyloBayes software, which allows different substitution processes for amino acid replacement at various sites, produced a tree that best matched known higher-level taxa and defined basal relationships in Coleoptera. After rooting with Neuropterida outgroups, suborder relationships were resolved as (Polyphaga (Myxophaga (Archostemata + Adephaga))). The infraorder relationships in Polyphaga were (Scirtiformia (Elateriformia (Staphyliniformia + Scarabaeiformia (Bostrichiformia (Cucujiformia)))). Polyphagan superfamilies were recovered as monophyla except Staphylinoidea (paraphyletic for Scarabaeiformia) and Cucujoidea, which can no longer be considered a valid taxon. The study shows that, whilst compositional heterogeneity is not universal, it cannot be eliminated for some mitochondrial genes, but dense taxon sampling and the use of appropriate Bayesian analyses can still produce robust phylogenetic trees

Associations of Alcohol Consumption With Epigenome-Wide DNA Methylation and Epigenetic Age Acceleration : Individual-Level and Co-twin Comparison Analyses

Background DNA methylation may play a role in the progression from normative to problematic drinking and underlie adverse health outcomes associated with alcohol misuse. We examined the association between alcohol consumption and DNA methylation patterns using 3 approaches: a conventional epigenome-wide association study (EWAS); a co-twin comparison design, which controls for genetic and environmental influences that twins share; and a regression of age acceleration, defined as a discrepancy between chronological age and DNA methylation age, on alcohol consumption. Methods Participants came from the Finnish Twin Cohorts (FinnTwin12/FinnTwin16; N = 1,004; 55% female; average age = 23 years). Individuals reported the number of alcoholic beverages consumed in the past week, and epigenome-wide DNA methylation was assessed in whole blood using the Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip. Results In the EWAS, alcohol consumption was significantly related to methylation at 24 CpG sites. When evaluating whether differences between twin siblings (185 monozygotic pairs) in alcohol consumption predicted differences in DNA methylation, co-twin comparisons replicated 4 CpG sites from the EWAS and identified 23 additional sites. However, when we examined qualitative differences in drinking patterns between twins (heavy drinker vs. light drinker/abstainer or moderate drinker vs. abstainer; 44 pairs), methylation patterns did not significantly differ within twin pairs. Finally, individuals who reported higher alcohol consumption also exhibited greater age acceleration, though results were no longer significant after controlling for genetic and environmental influences shared by co-twins. Conclusions Our analyses offer insight into the associations between epigenetic variation and levels of alcohol consumption in young adulthood.Peer reviewe

Chromatin modifier developmental pluripotency associated factor 4 (DPPA4) is a candidate gene for alcohol-induced developmental disorders

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Testing the Potential for Predictive Modeling and Mapping and Extending Its Use as a Tool for Evaluating Management Scenarios and Economic Valuation in the Baltic Sea (PREHAB)

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Could continuous cover forestry be an economically and environmentally feasible management option on drained boreal peatlands?

Environmental and economic performance of forestry on drained peatlands was reviewed to consider whether continuous cover forestry (CCF) could be a feasible alternative to even-aged management (EM). CCF was regarded feasible particularly because continuously maintaining a tree stand with significant transpiration and interception capacity would decrease the need for ditch network maintenance. Managing CCF forests in such a way that the ground water levels are lower than in clear-cut EM forests but higher than in mature EM forests could decrease greenhouse gas emissions and negative water quality impacts caused both by anoxic redox reactions and oxidation and mineralization of deep peat layers. Regeneration studies indicated potential for satisfactory natural regeneration under CCF on drained peatlands. An economic advantage in CCF over EM is that fewer investments are needed to establish the forest stand and sustain its growth. Thus, even if the growth of trees in CCF forests were lower than in EM forests, CCF could at least in some peatland sites turn out to be a more profitable forest management regime. An advantage of CCF from the viewpoint of socially optimal forest management is that it plausibly reduces the negative externalities of management compared to EM. We propose that future research in drained peatland forests should focus on assessing the economic and environmental feasibility of CCF.Peer reviewe

Neuregulin signaling pathway in smoking behavior

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Data mining applied to linkage disequilibrium mapping

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